Terrorist rock stars (and real “heartbreak”)

This is some cover. According to Rolling Stone, contributing editor Janet Reitman “delivers a deeply reported account of the life and times of Boston bomber Jahar Tsarnaev.” Reitman interviewed “dozens” of sources to deliver a “riveting and heartbreaking account of how a charming kid with a bright future who became a monster.” (I actually find the idea of transforming a murderer, a man who enjoyed the full benefits of the American system, into a victim of his surroundings more offensive than I do the dumb cover.)

None of the sneak-peak bullet points make Tsarnaev seem particularly bright or charming. And a Tiger Beat style cover doesn’t really convey a heartbreaking story about a charming kid and how he “fell” — these things happen by happenstance, you know — into radical Islam. What it does, is place a vile human being in a spot typically reserved for glamorous celebs.